Skidder winch



17, 1968 s'nx oop EIAL 3,416,773

SKIDDER WINCH Filed June 29, 19s? s Sheets-Sheet 1 JARVIS A.$TIXROOD JOSEPH R. BRUCE EDWIN O. HOLDEN INVENTORS ATTQRN EYS 1968 J. A. STIXROOD ETAL 3,416,773

SKIDDER WINCH Filed June 29, 1967 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 FIG JARVIS A. STIXROOD JOSEPH R. BRUCE so EDWIN c. HOLDEN INVENTORS.

28B 26 B SQQPQ AT TQRMEIL Dec. 17, 1968 J sTlXROOD ET AL 3,416,773

SKIDDER WINCH 6 Sheets-Sheet 5 Filed June 29, 1967 JARVIS A. STIXROOD JOSEPH R. BRUCE EDWIN C. HOLDEN INVENTORS v ATTORNEYS Patented Dec. 17, 1968 3,416,773 SKIDDER WINCH Jarvis A. Stixrood, Mercer Island, Joseph R. Bruce,

Seattle, and Edwin C. Holden, Benton, Wash, as-

signors to Pacific Car and Foundry Company, Renton, Wash., a corporation of Washington Filed June 29, 1967, Ser. No. 650,118 13 Claims. (Cl. 254-166) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A winch having a non-rotary mounting shaft for the winding drum, with the two ends of the shaft anchored to a foundation, and having a frame for the winch attached to the drum shaft and also to the foundation at a point removed a substantial distance radially from the drum shaft.

Background of invention Heretofore, winches for tractors or wheeled vehicles have generally employed a structural case or a rigid frame to carry the load from the drum into the foundation on which the winch is mounted, and this has dictated that the winch case be of heavy construction if it is to stand up under the stresses encountered from loads which the winch is called upon to pull. In order that the need for a heavy case or frame may be obviated, the present invention journals the winding drum upon a non-rotary shaft and employs the two ends of the shaft as mountings for the winch, thus causing pulling loads to go directly from the ends of the shaft into the vehicle. A necessary complement to the shaft mountings is that the winch be restrained at one other point against turning bodily about the center of the drum as an axis. This restraint point is perforce located as far as practical from the drum shaft.

Tractor winches are customarily driven through an enclosed train of reduction gearing from a PTO of the vehicles power plant, and it is usual to make the drum and the drum drive gear separate. This has permitted a smalldiameter seal to be inserted between the gear and the drum so that the gear can run in oil without excessive loss of the lubricant. This construction is, however, expensive and to avoid same the structure of the present invention includes a seal having a diameter slightly larger than the diameter of the gear which drives the drum. This larger diameter obviates any need to have a system in which the driving means is split and rejoined for installation.

Description of drawings In the accompanying drawings:

FIGURES 1 and 2 are, respectively, a top plan and a side elevational view illustrating a skidder winch constructed to embody preferred teachings of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a horizontal sectional view drawn to an enlarged scale on line 3-3 of FIG. 2.

FIG. 4 is a longitudinal vertical sectional view on line 4-4 of FIG. 1, using the same scale as that of FIG. 3; and

FIG. 5 is a side elevational view showing the wide flexibility in mounting arrangements to which the winch admits.

Referring to the drawings, a winding drum for the winch is denoted by the numeral 10, having in the spooling surface a butt-socket 11 to accommodate the terminal ferrule of a cable and having flanges at the two ends one of which is a planar flange and the other a bellflange. Denoted by 13, the annular rim of the bell-flange has both its internal and its external surface finished smooth concentric with the rotary axis of the drum. A rotary journal for the drum is provided by two roller bearing assemblies 14 and 15, with the outer races being fitted in the two ends of the drum and the inner races being carried by a nonrotary mounting shaft 16 which passes through the hub. Both ends of the shaft project beyond the drum. The end which points in the same direction as the annular rim 13 projects well beyond the rim. A terminal portion, as 17 and 18, of each of the projecting ends is clamped between the base and cap components of a respective one of two split anchor brackets 19. The frame of the vehicle on which the winch is to be mounted provides laterally spaced apart longitudinal principals 2020 and said anchor brackets are bolted thereto, so that the drum shaft extends transversely between said frame principals. The clamped portions of said shaft are necked down and threads are provided beyond the inner extremities thereof to receive nuts 21.

The winch has a case which straddles the drum and occupies the space between the frame principals, being formed to a yoke shape with the two legs fitting over the shaft immediately to the inside of the frame principals. Said nuts 21 secure the case to the shaft. One leg 22 of the case lies beyond the planar flange of the drum and is comprised of a flat plate which is bolted to the cross-arm 23 of the case. This cross-arm is hollow and is cast integral with the other leg 24, aluminum being suitable for the casting.

Leg 24 is cupped to provide a relatively deep openend chamber 25 facing inwardly toward the drum. The annular rim 13 of the drum extends into the chamber, lying in spaced but close proximity to the skirting outer wall 26. An annular shelf 27 is formed internally at or about the mid-length of said skirt and provides a seat for a large-diameter oil seal 28. The rim 13 terminates short of the shelf. Oil seal 28 wipes upon an annular face 30 formed upon a carrier member 31 for a hereinafter described clutch through which the drive from a PTO 29 of the vehicles power plant is passed to the drum. Such clutch carrier is journaled by roller bearing assemblies 32 and 33 from the mounting shaft 16 and the final gear 35 of a reduction train of gears sweated or otherwise made secured upon a shoulder which lies to the outside -axially considered-of the annular face 30. It is significant that the final gear 35 has an external diameter no larger than the internal diameter of the oil seal 28.

The drive from the PTO includes meshed bevel gears 36 and 37 housed in the hollow center of the cross-arm 23, and has a pinion 38 likewise housed in said hollow center and formed on the opposite end of a shaft 39 to which the gear 37 is keyed. A pinion 40 passes the drive from pinion 38 to the final gear 35.

The clutch carrier 31 is formed with radially spaced inner and outer ring sections connected by a centrally placed rib, and has the inwardly pointing part 41 of the outer section closely underlying the rim 13 of the drum, albeit with a space therebetween. The clutch proper occupies this space and is comprised of an expandible band 42 faced externally with a friction lining 43.

The rotation of the carrier is unidirectional and the clutch band is caused to constantly rotate in unison therewith by bearing engagement of a lug 44 against the trailing end of the band. The leading end of the band is formed upon its underside with a web 45 which extends through a mutilating gap of the ring part 41 into the space which lies interiorly therefor. Operating machanisrn for the clutch occupies this space, being comprised of a bell-crank 46, a thrust member 47, and a hydraulic piston-cylinder assembly 48. Springs 49 and 50 yieldingly oppose pressure of hydraulic fluid fed to the cylinder of said piston-cylinder assembly through cored communicating conduits 51 and 52 formed in the rotating carrier member and the stationary frame member, respectively, and leading from a surface fitting 53.

The drum is braked by a band 54 which surrounds the flange 13, with braking pressure being applied by a spring 55 and released by pressure of hydraulic fluid supplied through a surface fitting 56 to the cylinder of a pistoncylinder assembly 57 which overlies the brake band in a compartment guarded from the cable-winding area of the drum by a plate 58 which is secured by cap-screws 60 to the skirt 26 of the case-leg 24.

From the foregoing description it will be seen that with the shaft held against rotation and its ends employed to mount the winch, pulling loads will go directly from the ends of the shaft into the frame of the vehicle. This obviates need for a heavy structural case. However, since line load cannot pass through the drum shaft it becomes necessary that one other restraint be provided to fix the winch against movement. The point of this restraint should be located as far as practical from the drum shaft. Such restraint is provided by a post 63 rising from a crossmember 62 anchored relative to the frame principals 20-- 20 and fixed by a nut 64 to a web 65 of the winch case.

An advantage inherent to the engineering of the present winch is that with no more than a cocking of the shaft which carries the input bevel gear 36, and a minor redesigning of the case in compensation of this cocking, the winch can be readily made to operate in sundry mounting environments. An example is shown in FIG. 5, where a PTO 29 lies below frame members 20' from which the winch case is to take its support. Responsible for this wide adaptability is that the drive from the PTO is passed into the case through a rotary shaft (39) spaced from and paralleling the drum shaft 16, hence allowing the case to be rotated about the center of said shaft 39 without in any way altering either the driving relationship between the PTO and such shaft or between such shaft and the drum shaft.

It is thought that the invention will have been clearly understood from the foregoing detailed description of our now-preferred illustrated embodiment. Changes in the details of construction may be resorted to without departing from the spirit of the invention and it is accordingly our intention that no limitations be implied and that the hereto annexed claims be given the broadest interpretation to which the employed language fairly admits.

The embodiments of the invention in which an exclusive property or privilege is claimed are defined as follows:

1. A winch comprising, in combination: a winding drum, a non-rotary shaft on which said drum is journaled and having each of its two ends projecting beyond the drum, a winch case formed to a yoke shape and straddling the drum with each of its two legs fitting over said projecting ends of the shaft and secured thereto, a foundation, means rigidly supporting each of the two ends of the shaft from said foundation to provide two mounting points for the winch, a power-driven reduction gear train housed by the winch case and operatively connected with the drum for rotating the drum, and a connection from the foundation to the winch case providing a third point of mounting which is removed from the shaft a radial distance sufficient to create a long-arm lever restraining torsion-influenced rotation of the winch case as power from said gear train is passed into the drum.

2. A winch according to claim 1 in which said operative connection from the gear train to the drum includes a clutch.

3. A winch according to claim 1 in which the drum is formed with a bell-flange at one end of its spooling surface so that an annular rim is provided lying concentric to the rotary axis and pointing outwardly from the drum with at least one of its two facing surfaces finished smooth, said operative connection from the gear train to the drum including a hydraulically-applied and spring-released clutch functional to said smooth surface of the rim.

4. A winch according to claim 3 in which both facing surfaces of the rim are finished smooth, the clutch being functional to the internal face of the'rim, a spring-applied and hydraulically-released contracting brake being provided functional to the external surface of the rim.

5. A winch according to claim 1 in which said operative connection from the gear train to the drum includes a clutch carried by a member journaled for rotation upon the shaft and having the final gear of the gear train fixed thereto, an oil seal being provided which is carried by the winch frame in a position surrounding the clutch carrier and wiping upon the latter, the internal diameter of the oil seal exceeding the external diameter of the final gear.

6. A winch according to claim 5, the clutch being internal expanding applied by hydraulic pressure and released by spring pressure, and having the hydraulic fluid supplied through communicating conduits, cored in the winch case and in the clutch carrier, to a cylinder which is fixed to the carrier.

7. A winch according to claim 1 in which the winch is mounted upon a tractor, employing the tractor frame as its foundation.

8. A winch according to claim 1 in which the winch is mounted upon a tractor, employing the tractor frame as its foundation, said operative connection from the gear train to the drum including a clutch carried by a member journaled for rotation upon the shaft and having the final gear of the gear train fixed thereto, the gear train comprising an input bevel gear powered from the PTO of the tractors power plant, an output bevel gear meshed thereby and keyed upon one end of a shaft journaled for rotation about an axis paralleling the rotary axis of the drum, a first pinion fixed to the other end of said rotary shaft, and a second pinion rotating about an axis midway between said paralleling axes and meshing both the first pinion and the final gear.

9. A winch according to claim 8 in which flexibility in mounting is provided by having the input bevel gear rotate about an axis normal to the drum shaft midway between the two first'named mounting points.

10. A winch according to claim 8, the gears running in oil, an oil seal being provided which is carried by the winch frame in a position surrounding the clutch carrier and wiping an external face provided by the latter which is concentric to the rotary axis of the clutch carrier, the internal diameter of the oil seal exceeding the external diameter of the final gear.

11. A winch comprising, in combination: a winch case, a winding drum journaled for rotation in the case, a drive member journaled for rotation about an axis coinciding with the rotary axis of the drum, means for coupling said drive member to or uncoupling the same from the drum at will, a power-driven system of reduction gears for driving the driving member housed in the case and including as its final gear a gear wheel fixed to the drive member, said gear wheel running in oil, and a seal for the oil carried by the case and wiping upon the drive member and characterized in that the same has 5 an internal diameter slightly larger than the external diameter of the gear wheel.

12. A winch according to claim 11 in which the means for coupling and uncoupling the drive member comprises a normally inactive clutch activated by the pressure of hydraulic fluid.

13. A winch according to claim 11 in which the drum has a bell-flange at one of its ends producing an annular rim which is finished smooth upon its internal surface, the means for coupling the drive member comprising a clutch band carried by the drive member and expandible against said internal surface.

6 References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,326,935 8/1943 Ferguson 254-187 2,378,749 6/ 1945 Brown 254-187 2,515,434 7/1950 Zwald 254-187 EVON C. BLUNK, Primary Examiner.

HARVEY HORNSBY, Assistant Examiner.

U.S. Cl. X.R. 254187 

